Witcher: RNJR Tales
by Battle Bruva Volks
Summary: The White Frost is gone, but Ciri isn't out of the woods yet. Now stranded on a new, strange world, Ciri finds herself in the company of... An eccentric group of monster slayers.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So I've been super busy and Blake's Mentor is kinda dead (for now) so I decdied to start writing this! Hope you enjoy it!**

It was cold.

Bitterly so.

Even in her victory, she was cold.

The White Frost was gone. The world, no, the universe was saved.

And yet, Ciri was cold.

She didn't know exactly what she did to hold it, or destroy it, or whatever she did. All she knew was that it was gone. She smiled despite the pain and exhaustion she felt, a single tear rolled down her cheek as she ponders that she may never see anyone she loved, ever. She squeezed her hands in a clenched fist, tight enough that her finger nails dug deeply into her palm.

"Vesemir..."

As she stared into the yawning maw of the abyss, she found her whole body being claimed by the cold of the void. She forced her eyes open, as much as it pained her, only to see darkness. Ciri wandered if anyone could find her if she could even save herself. Traveling between worlds entirely was a difficult feat, one that required energy.

"Yennefer..."

Ciri had to try. She could not leave anything to chance. Even if the world would be alien to her she had to try. She summoned what energy she had remaining, her whole body began to warm despite the freezing abyss around her. A dull green glow enveloped her, though it began to grow brighter, more radiant.

"Geralt..."

Finally, she had to screw her eyes shut, the glow becoming too bright, even for her eyes.

"I love you..."

And with that Ciri disappeared from the void she created.

* * *

"Ruby."

Ruby snapped around to see a concerned Jaune laying down near the campfire. She nearly had fallen asleep, again. She couldn't, not while she was on watch. Rubbing the sleep out of her left eye she squinted at Jaune.

"Oh, need something?"

"My turn for the watch."

Ruby shook her head. "No, no, I got it, go back to sleep."

Jaune sighed. "Ruby get some sleep."

"I don't need it..."

Jaune rose from his sleeping bag and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ruby. You don't have to do everything. We're a team."

Ruby sighed. "Alright..."

Ruby stood up and gave Jaune her seat on the tree stump she had been sitting on. The young huntress let out a loud yawn and wandered over to the campfire, falling onto Jaune's sleeping bag.

"Um, Ruby, that's mine." Jaune tried to stop her but she was already getting inside it.

"Too bad," Ruby replied in a very tired tone. "Besides, it's cold out, and yours is already warm."

"Yeah," Jaune replied passively seeing his breath fog.

Wait, what? Jaune did a double take. He did it again, blowing hard, sure enough, a thick cloud came from his mouth. It was well into spring, heck, it was summer! The swordsman begun to shiver, he saw frost forming on his armor. Something wasn't right. The air was getting colder, and it even began to... Snow? Something then caught his eye, he looked down the hill they were camped on. About two or three miles away he could see a dull green glow.

"Uh, guys..."

He then began to hear something, like a wailing. The glow begun to grow brighter, it's origin was soon clear. It looked like a ball of... Something? Jaune wasn't sure, but whatever it was it wasn't good. It grew bigger, brighter, and the distant wailing grew louder with it.

"Guys!" Jaune turned to his team, RNJR to see that some begun to get up.

First was Ruby, of course, who was already readying Crescent Rose. "What is-" Ruby then saw the glow. "What is that?"

Next came Nora who saw the snow first and, of course, proclaimed "Yeah! Snow! Wait... Snow?"

Ren came next who looked equally puzzled. "What's going-" Then the wailing became more permanent Nora then suddenly lept to Ren, her arms wrapping around him tightly. Jaune noted she genuinely looked frightened. Jaune turned and looked, the ball was now like a second sun, the wailing so loud he covered his ears.

Then finally it ended, with a bang. A whoosh of wind slammed into RNJR's camp, dousing the flames of their campfire and knocking the team flat on their backs. Jaune brushed the ice and snow off his face and stood up.

"Is everyone okay?" Jaune asked looking around the camp.

Ruby raised a frost covered hand, giving a thumbs up. "Cold, but alive!"

"Same!" Nora proclaimed.

"I'm alright!" Ren said.

Jaune nodded and turned to where the glow was, to see it was their had once been trees was nothing but a frozen wasteland. Jaune was about to say something along the lines of 'what the hell was that' when Ruby started running towards ground zero. Jaune reached out trying to grab her before she ran in but she was already beyond his grasp.

"Okay, so we're going in. I guess."

Jaune and the rest of team RNJR hurried behind Ruby as fast as they could. Jaune was now not liking that Ruby's semblance was speed. Yes, it was very, very useful in combat, making Ruby a valuable asset, but it also meant Ruby was always the first to everything. Always going ahead, without backup. Jaune worried that she might one day go into a fight she couldn't handle.

The huntsman shook his head, he had to focus. Dashing through the frozen waste he saw it was just trees that were affected by the sudden, icy, blast. Animals, even a lone beowulf was frozen solid by whatever did this. As got to the center the cold was damn near unbearable, he found it hard to breathe the cold air he looked around for any signs of Ruby.

"Ruby!" He called out, Nora and Ren coming to Jaune's side. "Crap. Where did she-"

"I found someone!" Ruby cried out. "I think... Yeah! Yeah, she's alive guys!"

Jaune squinted through the frozen mist to see Ruby coming from the center, a girl, about their age, being supported her shoulders. The most striking thing about her was her bone white hair and the long sword on her back. Was she a huntress? Jaune wondered but soon found himself at Ruby's side supporting the unknown girl. She had a long scar running from her fore head, across her left eye, and down into her cheek. With a white shirt which was tucked into leather pants that were held by an ornate looking belt.

"Damn, she's cold..." Jaune murmured. "We got to get her out of her."

Coming back to their campsite, they lit a new fire and dusted away the frost. While it was no longer bitterly cold, team RNJR, plus their unconscious charge, huddled around the fire. The girl herself seemed to be dreaming about something. Jaune noted that her eyes were darting every which direction.

"Who... Who do you think she is?" Nora decided to break the silence.

Ren offered the first explanation. "Maybe she's a huntress. Might've just unlocked her semblance."

"I've never seen a semblance change the weather," Ruby said shivering, fully entangled in her cloak. "I mean... Maybe with dust?"

"Yeah but," Jaune began pointing back to the epicenter with his thumb, "Who has THAT much dust?"

"Maybe will figure that out when she wakes up," Ruby said looking her over. She paused at the girl's sword and got that all too familiar 'I want to know more' look on her face.

"Ruby," Jaune said pointing at her. "No."

"But... I mean. It could've been damaged in the explosion." She said sheepishly tried to justify.

Jaune gave her a flat look. "Ruby. No."

The girl then seemed to sink deeper into her cloak. The team of young hunters sat around the burning flame. The team of young hunters all still stared at the unconscious girl, all thinking up wild theories of who she was and where she came from. Jaune had his own ideas; though he kept them to himself. He figured he would be able to ask her when she woke up.

Speaking of.

Jaune nearly lept out of his sleeping bag when the mystery girl awake, gasping for air.

Oh, and then went into a full dead sprint.

"Hey! Wait!" Jaune chased after her, RNJR in tow.

Whoever it didn't seem well coordinated. She tripped over herself multiple times, crawling back up into a sprint. Eventually, she came to a halt, she staring up at the sky. Jaune looked to Ruby as if to ask what was the plan, too which Ruby gave a puzzled shrug. The swordsman then decided maybe it was best to try and speak with her.

"Uh, hey, you alright?"

The girl didn't seem to reply, her neck was craned back, looking up at the moon.

"Um, hello?!" Nora then decided to help. "Miss Ice Bomb?! What're you looking at?"

There was a silence before the girl finally spoke. "The moon..."

"Um, yeah, it's the moon, been up there for a while." Jaune said looking at Ruby with a 'What the heck is going on?' look.

"But... Why is it broken?" The girl said again.

"Umm. Cause it, always has been." Ruby stated.

At that, the girl then turned around and gave each member of Team RNJR a once over before saying. "Oh no..."

"Um, what's wrong?" Jaune asked, no a little concerned.

"I'm not..." The mystery girl began to stagger. "Home."

At that last word, she began to fall. Without thinking Jaune rushed forward and grabbed her before she hit the ground, she had passed out, again.

"What do you think she meant?" Ren asked.

Jaune shook his head. "I don't know... We should get to the nearest village, chances are she needs a doctor."

"Well if I remember the map correctly..." Ruby gave Nora a look of disapproval before continuing. "The next town is only a few miles down the road. Heck, I could even use my semblance to get there!"

"No, no unnecessary aura use." Jaune looked over the crater that the mystery girl made. "We got to stay on our toes."


	2. Chapter 2

***Coffin opens up*  
*I lean up*  
I LIIIIIIIVE  
For real sorry guys, been going through a lot and only now just got the spark to write again, anyway, here you go!**

It'd been two days since Ciri arrived on 'Remnant,' and it was a rather adventurous two days.

For starters, Ciri impressed the group, called 'Ranger' or 'Junior' as according to Nora, on her tracking skills. Of course, she made certain to credit Geralt and taught them a thing or two about hunting. Nora was happy to be eating fresh meat instead of that preserved food Jaune had in his rough sack. Game was plentiful Ciri found. Plenty of deer and rabbits in the woods, and with her 'gift' it was an easy enough hunt. Though it'd seemed everyone else had some sort of gift here.

They called them 'semblances,' supposedly 'non-magical' but Ciri knew magic when she saw it. Ruby's 'speed' was a mild form of teleportation, at least to Ciri, while Nora's 'strength' was clearly using magic as a means to enhance one's natural abilities. Though she didn't know why they didn't just call it magic. From what she could learn magic wasn't taboo, to Ciri's relief, but it was a 'fairytale.'

Which led to the inevitable question:

"So, Ciri, what 'is' your sembalance."

It was Nora who asked, of bloody course. Ciri didn't hate Nora, in fact, the witcheress appreciated the girl's jovial personality, it kept her from being down... From remembering Geralt, and Yen... Wherever they were.

"Well?" Nora was on her tiptoes, trying her damnedest to get at Ciri's eye level.

"Oh, well, uh... I-" Ciri was saved by some wise words from Ren.

"It's okay if you don't want to say," The pink-eyed boy was wise beyond his years. Quite, mostly, but when he spoke, it was purposeful, "Unlocking a semblance can be quite traumatic. Some just don't wanna explain it."

Ciri detected that there was more than just common wisdom in Ren's voice, "Yeah... My, sembalance is one of those really... It's never really been a gift for me, even though people tell me it is."

"Often the case for some people," Ren said with a sigh, "If you don't mind, I'm off to meditate, Nora, do you wish to come?"

"Certainly!"

The thought of those two meditating amused Ciri but it was after they left that Ciri noted that Ruby watching her from a distance. The silver eyed girl noted that she'd be spotted and looked away in the same shy manner she'd always done.

Having already gone hunting and gathering, she decided to ask if Ruby had something to say. In the little time, she had to talk with the redhead, Ciri got the impression of a girl yet to mature, but already been through much. She was childlike, not childish, as Geralt would put it. Despite this Ruby was smart, and well versed in smithing, but she spoke rarely to Ciri.

"Ruby, how're you?" Ciri started it off easy, nothing accusatory.

Though that seemed to put Ruby into a bind. Her silver eyes darted a bit before looking down, "Good, uh, um..." Ruby finally looked up at Ciri, "I wanna apologize, I didn't mean to knock your sword. Never really got a chance too... I'm really sorry if that gave you the wrong impression of who I was. I mean first impressions are always important and I just wanted to fix that you know and all that jazz-"

"Ruby," Ciri put a handout, causing Ruby's jumbled apology to halt, "It's alright, I forgive you," Ciri said with a smile and a small chuckle.

This caused the redhead to beam, "Oh! Great! Phew, thought you'd be angrier."

"Why would I be?" The witchress asked she wanted to get into Ruby's head, understand her. Truly she wanted to do it with most of the group, besides Nora, Ciri didn't think she could handle that.

"Well... I'm not the best with people, and so I always, I guess overthink." Ruby said shrugging, "You kinda reminded me of Weiss, my partner."

"Partner?"

Ruby tilted her head before coming to a realization, "Oh, right! You're not in an academy yet. Well," Ruby cracked her knuckles and started lecturing, "Way back when the academies were founded, all students were organized into teams. Each team consisted of four hunters, two sets of partners make a team. My team, Team Ruby, consisted of me, Weiss, Blake and my sister, Yang. It spells it out, kinda clever... At Least I think, hehe."

Ciri thought for a moment, "Wait, is Weiss spelled with a 'W.'" Ruby nodded in reply, "But that spells, like, 'R'-'W'-'B'-'Y', not ruby..."

"Oh, well, uh," Ruby shrugged, "Don't think about it too much, it's supposed to be shorthand, like, for it to be easier to paperwork and stuff, I guess..."

Ciri shrugged, "Whatever works I guess... Where is she?"

"Hm?"

"Your partner, Weiss. Shouldn't you be together?"

Ruby's shoulders slumped, "My teams... Kinda broken... Weiss went back home to Atlas, her father took her. Yang is back home... She lost an arm during the... Battle and Blake... I don't know."

Ciri saw wetness in Ruby's eyes, and knew she'd 've kept her mouth shut, "Hey, it's alright," The witches put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "You're among friends, it'll be alright."

Ruby smiled, "Yeah... It will. We just have to keep going. Keep moving forward..."

Meanwhile... In Menagerie

"Hey... Hey mister. You alright?"

Hot. It was too damn hot. How could it be so damn hot? I was just in fucking Skellige, how can it be so hot!

This was the first thought Geralt had upon regaining consciousness. The second was the fact that someone was standing over him. A young humanoid judging by heart positioning and the fact that he could see the sandals the boy was wearing.

"Mister!" The boy spoke louder, trying to rouse Geralt, "Are you alive?"

Geralt grunted and stood up towering over the boy, even his... Rabbit ears. That threw Geralt for a loop, never had he seen that before, and he'd seen a lot in his life. Though the boy looks non-threatening already. A thing, tan-skinned, rabbit-eared kid, around ten if Geralt was any good at guessing age.

"Yeah... I'm alive." Geralt finally answer, dusting the sand off his wolven armor, "Weathers a bit hot for my taste, but, alive."

"Well, it is Menagerie, kinda supposed to be..."

"Menagerie?" Now that was a new name to Geralt. Never heard of a place called that, "Where is that? South of Nilfgaard?"

"Uh, no... It's south of Mistral, and whats... 'Nilfgaard?'"

Geralt was about to answer the boy's question when he noted something very important: The Moon was broken. Putting aside all logic of how that was possible, it was also much smaller than he recalled. Couple that with the strange names and he started to recall what happened before.

The Conjunction...

"Shit..." Geralt said with a sigh staring up at the moon.

"Hey, you shouldn't say that it's a curse word." The boy corrected Geralt.

Geralt looked down to the rabbit-eared boy with a flat look which could be universally translated as, 'Shut up.' The witcher knew he was in a different world now, but now came the more difficult part: Finding Ciri... Again.

"Sorry," Geralt started off, "Didn't mean offend. If I may ask, have you seen a women, ashen hair, just like mine."

"Oh, uh... What's her faunus trait?"

"Pardon?"

The kid seemed to fall over in just confusion, "What? Don't you know? You have them! Those eyes."

"Kid I'm-" Geralt stopped himself mid-sentence. Chances are that there were no witchers were ever here was, "-Sorry, bit fuzzy."

"I'll say," The boy said crossing his arms, "Did your shipwreck?"

Geralt turned around to see a wide blue ocean behind him, not a speck of land in sight, not even with his enhanced sight, the witcher sighed, time to spin a lie, he thought to himself.

"Yes. Afraid so, a storm took it beneath the waves," Witchers could suppress emotion, allowing them to remain cool under pressure. Useful for both monster hunting and lying, "You have any idea where the nearest settlement is? Would like a hot meal, it was a long swim."

"Uh... Well there's only one big one, Kuo Kuana, but there are a few other villages, I'm from Kuo Varska, only a few miles from Kuo Kuana." The boy explained, "Maybe you can stay in the village, we got a bunch of fish in and we're going to grill them tonight!" He said somewhat excitingly.

Geralt nodded, "Sounds good to me if you don't mind me intruding."

"Here, we're all brothers and sisters, at least that's what dad says... Oh right! The girl you were looking for, what was her trait?"

Geralt paused for a moment, damn it, "Uh, wings." Shit, Geralt thought, how could I mess this up?!

"Oh, that's rare but cool! What kind of wings."

Wait it worked? Geralt thought, okay, best not tell Dandelion about this place, think he could lie his way to a kingship here, "Wings of a swallow."

"Oh cool! Rare, but cool!" The boy said excitingly, which made Geralt assume that 'cool' was used to describe something as interesting, "Well, you're the only one I saw on the beach, sorry..."

Geralt sighed, "It's alright... I'll find her, eventually."

The boy decided to shift subjects, "I'm Mow, by the way, what's your name."

"Geralt, it's nice to meet you Mow."


	3. Chapter 3

"So... Why two swords?"

Geralt hummed before replying simply with, "One for beasts, the other for non-beasts."

"Like... One for Grimm, and the other for... People?" Mow was hesitant to ask.

Geralt nodded, "Aye. All sorts of dangers in the world, people can be one of them."

The witcher had anticipated the question and had been preparing for it, a simple answer was all that was needed. The boy, Mow, or Mowgli as he later revealed, had been conversing with the witcher for the past maybe half hour. During that Geralt had used the conversation to get an idea of where he was.

From what he could gather without tipping his hand was that he was on a world called 'Remnant,' on a large island called Menagerie. It was given to the race that lived upon it, the faunus, after the 'Great War,' and ever since the faunus have fled to it to escape injustice in the other kingdoms, especially Atlas. Though he didn't know much beyond that, Mow was just a kid, not knowing much beyond what his parents told him.

The walk was quite for the most part after that last question, too Geralt's relief. He wasn't the best at talking, though he mostly only had to listen. He now turned his attention to the wildlife around him. The island had its share of different smells, different sounds, and different wildlife, though the witcher knew he wouldn't have time for exploration, he'd need to get on the Path, and find Ciri.

The sun was nearly fully set, the moon now high in the sky when Geralt finally arrived at the village Mow had been talking about. Just as he described it was along a creek, next to a grove of 'banana trees.' They were stout looking trees with bundles of strange looking fruit. A big bonfire burned a short distance from the village proper, a large group of people gathered around it. The witcher's mutant hearing told him that it was a rather happy time, and his nose told him food was being had... Fish, cooked with a myriad of spices he'd never smelt before. It was then Geralt realised he was starving.

As they grew closer, a woman with rabbit ears approached Geralt and Mow, she looking the witcher down with a cautious look, "Mow!" She called to the boy, "You're late, young man!"

"I'm sorry mom! I found this guy on the beach," He stepped a bit out of the way, "His name's Geralt. I think he's a huntsman!"

The woman stopped, looked the witcher over again, seemingly shocked. Geralt thought he knew that look; the look of discontent he got on many occasions.

"Oh! Now Mistral spares one of you." The woman crossed her arms, "Or did Vale finally care enough to honor the treaty?"

Geralt interrupted her comments implying that he was some sort of pawn of a king. Huntsmen? Perhaps it was an equivalent of a witcher of this world, one who worked for the crown. He decided to stick with his story, no need to say anything special.

"Afraid I'm here through misfortune. My ship was taken by the waves, washed up here." Geralt explained.

The woman narrowed her brow, searching for a lie before sighing, "Well, if you want work, we've been having our share of Grimm worries. My husband calls them 'dire cats.' They struck the village to the north of us. Only a few die, the rest went into the city proper."

"Won't say no to clearing them out if someone pays me for it." Geralt said flatly.

"Figures... Well, you are a faunus, like the rest of us. You can join for some fish, imagine being shipwrecked would make any hungry."

"Think I'll take you up on that offer."

The fish was probably the best food Geralt had it the past couple days. It was truly heavenly. The company wasn't too bad either. Not one called him a filthy mutant, nor did they refuse to sit with him. That said, he wasn't too talkative. The occasional question here and there was asked of him, nothing he couldn't handle. That said, he was starting to feel a bit boxed in. Gatherings like this always made Geralt a bit uncomfortable.

What made matters worse was the attention he earned, namely of a young woman. Well maybe a young girl, judging by how she dressed and how she walked and how she drank. Geralt wagered she was somewhere around Ciri's age, which didn't help of course. Her short black hair, however, reminded him of Yennefer if the sorceress cut her hair, but it was the eyes, damn near same eyes as a witcher. Perhaps that is why she stumbled on over and plopped right down next to Geralt on the bench he chooses to sit at.

"Hey," The girl was barely in her twenties now that Geralt had a better look,"You're a new guy... What's your name."

"Geralt."

"Ger-alt?" The girl seemed confused, "What kinda name is that? Where'd you come from, Atlas? That ivory skin and white hair say so." She said flirtatiously as she clumsily attempted to caress Geralt's beard.

"Listen," Geralt decided to cut her off before she starts, "I'm seeing someone now, wouldn't be right-"

"Oh come on Ger-alt!" She lightly punched the white wolf in the arm, "Live a little! It's not like your wife or whatever will ever know!"

Geralt chuckled, "Hard to keep a secret from a woman who can read minds."

"Ha! Yeah right!" The redhead said trying to punch Geralt in the arm and missing horribly falling off the bench.  
"Alright, that's enough." A man then stepped up, picking the young girl up, "Time to go home missy."

"Dad! Come on! I'm not bothering anyone! I and Ger-alt are having a great time!" She said hiccuping.

The man looked down to Geralt, his boar-like tusks giving his gaze an extra bit of menace, "No. I don't think you too are having fun," He turned back to his daughter, and grabbed her by the arm, "Come on, let's go."

"No! I don't-"

The young girl's protest was cut short by the man slapping her across the face, "You'll shut the hell up!"

The party died out quickly. The previous jovial mood was gone, replaced with a level of tension as to what would happen next. Geralt broke that new silence.

"Think you need to be the one to calm down."

The boar-tusked man snarled, "You telling me how to parent my child?"

"Your child is an adult. Should be able to make her own choices." The white wolf countered.

"Not if she's living in my house!" He shouted back, the girl trembling in his vice grip on her arm.

"Ned, calm the fuck down." Came a new voice, a dog-eared man.

The boar tusked man shot back, "Fuck off Yu, this doesn't concern you!"

The dog ear man tore his way through the party, two others joining him, a spotted man and a cat-eyed woman came towards the altercation, the woman came to Geralt, "Might wanna step out friend, we can handle this."

Geralt looked at her, then back to Ned, then back to her, nodded, and walked out of the light of the bonfire. The continued sound of arguing became irritating background noise to the witcher. He needed to take a walk. He was unsure if he could've defused that situation peacefully, not without using axii. That alone would raise a myriad of question that could turn the crowd hostile, so Geralt opted to go meditate till things blew over.

Getting a quiet place in the banana tree grove Geralt knelt down and started to forget about the world around him. His focus remained on Ciri and Yennefer. He pondered were they could've gone. It then occurred to him that they may not even be in the same world! That he could be stuck here, for the rest of his day...

Then something pulled him from the meditation.

A smell, an unnaturally foul, smell.

It was like sulfur, but much stronger and pronounced.

His eyes opened, gleaming in the moonlight. It was then that he saw shapes, darting towards the village, he able to hear more yelling from it. One of the shapes halted it's canter and looked at Geralt with blood red, glowing eyes. The witchers eyes gotta better look at the beast. It was black as night, with long bony spikes going along it's back coming to a whip-like tail which held what almost looked to be a stinger of short.

It then roared, and Geralt drew silver.

Before it charged the white wolf heard it's pack mate charging him from his right. The witcher dropped low and managed to catch the beast in the belly as it pounced and missed him. Black blood covered the witcher, the scent of a thousand rotting corpses assaulted his nose as he turned his blade towards his pack mate.

A flash.

A gust broke the beasts charge, causing it to tumble back. The white wolf pounced, landing its blade through the throat and into the head of the beast.

Twist, pull. It was dead and... Disappearing?

The beast seemed to melt, whatever it was. Even the blood along the leather and chain the witcher wore seemed to vanish, even the smell.

"What the fuck are these things..." Geralt exclaimed, "Dissipating forms? A spirit of some sort... No, blade cut right through it, has to be physical."

His thoughts would have to wait, as Geralt's attention was torn back to the village. The arguing was now replaced with screams and pleas for help from the gods. No gods would save them, no heroes would come... It would fall to the professional.

Geralt sprinted into the village, assessing the situation quickly. The beasts, whatever they were, had set upon the village, indiscriminately striking at whoever was closest to their long, hooked claws. The white wolf struck at the nearest beast first, it didn't give him any heed, it was occupied with a small child, who had been petrified by fear in its presence, though the long slash across its back earned its undivided attention.

The tail whipped at Geralt, slashing harmlessly across his chain mail. He stepped back, avoiding the pouncing strike that followed it, he returns the favor by cleaving the very claw that'd be slashed at him. The beast tumbled away, two more take its place.

"Run!" Geralt ordered the kid, who, without delay, carried it out as the witcher turned his attention to the charing beasts.

The sign of igni served the witcher well, burning flesh and yielding yelps of pain from the beasts that faced the witcher. In that second of hesitation from the beasts, still recovering from the wave of sparks, the witcher acted. Geralt pierced the skull of the closest, pulling his blade back he quick-stepped back and brought his blade into the beasts pack mate who'd pounced at the witcher in an attempt at vengeance.

Pulling his crossbow from his back, Geralt landed a shot upon the wounded beasts head from his first battle, and went back to assess the battle he was in the midst of. The beasts seemed to care little for the witcher, still fixated upon the villagers. Many had taken up arms; pitchforks and shovels, knives and even pans, they make a stand around a large house, perhaps the alderman's home.

Acting quickly, the witcher rushed forward, intercepting one of the beasts; taking off one of its legs than a jab through the skull and out the mouth. Bathing two others in flame the witcher joined the others in the defense of the home.

"Gods! You're the real deal!" The woman with cat eyes cried.

Geralt didn't reply, didn't have the time, nor the wanting too. Beasts were still about, people were still in danger.

And the beast took notice of him.

Four came at him all at once, coming at him from all sides. So Geralt countered with an award sweep to all sides. Two were caught mid-pounce, sending them reeling back, the one to the front and too the back were the only ones who seemed to brace for it, which intrigued the witcher for a moment on how intelligent they were before he found himself dodging their coordinated attack.

A side step wasn't enough; while he evaded the first, he ended up having to roll out of the way of the second attacker. It was then that a third joined in, leaping into a bite which the witcher managed to side step just in time, allowing him to both evade the attack and return in kind with a stab through the red eye of the beast.

Pulling his blade free, Geralt turned his attention to the one who was menacing him from the front, seemingly waiting for the witcher to strike first. The witcher did strike him with a flash of igni, then turning towards the two beasts from before. They attempted yet another staggered attacked but the witcher called their bluff, slicing one in twin mid-air and decapitating the other before it could even pounce. That left one, who seemed to be backing away.

Odd, Geralt thought, what's he waiting for? That answer was given by the cry of a villager.

"Alpha!"

Geralt turned to see a massive beast before him, damn near the size of a cohort or even a fiend. It held similarities to the beasts he was fighting before, though this one had a mane that seemed to move at its own volition, like black flames in the night. It's four burning red eyes stared down Geralt as it let out a roar, it's maw revealed no signs of a real esophagus, but instead a blood red, glowing pit; as if hell itself was within the beast.

"Damn your ugly." Geralt snarled.

The beast seemed to take great offense to that and charged the witcher. It bothered not to pounce, it simply closed the distance and slashed it's great claw, sending dirt and grass into the air but alas missing the witcher. Geralt knew the beast was focused on him, and that the villagers needed to make safe, so he drew the beast away, further out of the town.

"Come on! Come closer!" Geralt taunted the 'alpha,' who was closer than Geralt actually liked.

He could feel the unnaturally hot breath the beast snorted from its nostrils, the sulfur smell nearly overwhelming the witcher. Suddenly the beast lept to the right of Geralt, he still tracking it with his blade, not seeing the beast's tail. Whip like tails grasped the witcher, bringing him high, right above the maw of the beast.

He no choice but to pour everything he had in one last strike.

White-hot flame poured like a river from the witchers only free hand, right down the throat of the beast, catching its eyes as well in spellfire. Startled, and now maimed, the beast tossed the witcher wildly, he landing back where he started, right in the banana grove. Setting aside the irony, the witcher lept to his feet, realizing his silver blade was gone.

Dashing out of the grove he spied his wolven blade right at a road sign, sticking prominently out of the ground. Groaning the witcher sprinted towards it, being headed off by the smaller beast he burnt before. The witcher reached for his silver dagger, but before that a thunderous crack caused the witcher to flinch as the beasts head was ripped free of its shoulders.

Turning towards the sound he saw a group of uniformed faunus coming down the road, one of which holding a strange device; it looked like a crossbow, without a string or bolt, it also seemed to be smoking. It didn't take much thought for Geralt to put together that it was a weapon and those must be local guardsmen.

"Secure the town!" A buck-toothed one with the strange weapon yelled as the group moved quickly down the road, he, on the other hand, met Geralt at the sign, "You a huntsman?"

Geralt nodded, "Of sorts, name's Geralt."

"Saber," The faunus-man spoke firmly, "Don't see a lot of you guys down here, what's the occasion?"

"Afraid I wasn't sent on purpose," Geralt said putting his silver blade back into its sheath, "Shipwreck sent me here."

"Ah, lucky man." Saber replied, "Still, lucky us you're here... I'll need to still take you in though."

Geralt frowned, "And why would that be?"

"King Belladonna will want to speak to you."

 _Meanwhile..._

Ruby woke up early, as usual.

It was just what happened nowadays. Waking from dreams she did not remember... Maybe it was best she didn't. She always woke feeling out of breath and sweaty. Her eyes looked up at the dawning sky with a tinge of awe. It wasn't a new sight or anything, she'd seen the sun rise a ton, especially these days, but there was just something about that rising sun that seemed to put her at ease.

It reminded her of a story her mom, later Yang told her...

She looked to the camp at large, she starting to rise from her bed roll. Jaune was fast asleep, laying on his stomach, how he did that mystified Ruby, it was just... Weird, at least to her. Nora snored loudly next to Ren who was whistling in his sleep, weird, but since the little reaper had started traveling with them it was no big deal.

Then there was the newest member of the group, Ciri. She laid up again a tree, next to the fire, a spare blanket cloaking her as she slept with her arms wrapped around her sheathed blade. Ruby really wanted to know what the sword looked like. What metal was it forged with? Any combat tricks? The mystery was killing the young girl. She wished for just a creep to show up and let Ciri handle it, just to see what the blade was like.

Ruby had seen the white-haired girl semblance go off numerous times; she was fast, just like Ruby. Very fast. In fact, the young huntress thought to herself, maybe even faster than she was! Ruby needed to work on her semblance because Ciri had seemingly mastered hers.

She moved so fast when using it you could blink and she'd be a mile away. Of course Ruby hadn't seen her go that mile, yet, but she wondered if she could. Just what were the limitations of it? How exactly did it work? Yet another mystery that got that kept Ruby's interest in Ciri high.

"You're staring again."

Ruby's face became beat red as Ciri revealed that she'd been awake for some time, "Oh... Sorry, I-"

The white-haired girl chuckled, "It's fine, no harm done," She stood from her previous rest place, stretching out, "I'm going to get breakfast started, mind grabbing some more wood?"

"Sure!" Ruby stumbled out of her bed roll and darted into the woods, quickly grabbing a long and a few branches before returning and dumping the log and twigs on the campfire, rekindling it, "Done!"

Ciri looked at Ruby, a bit confused, "You use your semblance to get firewood?"

Ruby's eyes widened, did she? Ruby looked around and sure enough, rose petals, her namesake, "Oops, uh sorry, hehe, yeah that happens sometimes. Especially when I'm excited."

Ciri smiled, "It's fine, remind me not to let you loose in an armory."

"Yeah, yeah..." Ruby trailed off before asking, "So uh, why do you wanna be a huntress?"

Ciri shrugged, "Well, Geralt was one... My uncle was one, and basically, everyone in my family was. Family business and all. Save for Yennefer, she supported me, but I don't think she approved all that much."

"Oh, uh, why? Being a huntress is so cool! You help people and fight Grimm!"

"Sure... But," Ciri looked away from Ruby and into the fire, "There's a lot of danger in it..."

"Well... Yeah, there is," Ruby admitted, "But we can't let that keep us down, we gotta keep moving forward."

"Sure, but, people will worry about you."

That hit Ruby hard. It hit her with flashes of Yang, broken, beaten, not caring about anything. And she left her! "I, uh," Ruby then remember those she lost, Penny... Pyrrha, "I am here because I watched some of my best friends die... I couldn't just stand there anymore... I don't-"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to Ciri who was looking down at her, she shivered under the white-haired girl's gaze, "I understand," There was a pain in her eyes, that same look Jaune had, "I know that wanting, that need to take vengeance upon those who hurt you, who hurt those you love. Don't let it take over you... That's how good men lose their way."

Ruby felt reassured by that, and, for a reason beyond her, wrapped Ciri in a hug; it was out of character for her, but she just wanted to.

"Does it ever get better?" Ruby asked, "That empty feeling?"

"We just keep moving forward, it's all we can do."


End file.
